Here's to an update!

So yes….it’s been a while.  A long while actually.  But to my defense, I’ve been so busy with school stuff and a growing baby.  Plus, I’m addicted to Pinterest!  But on a good note, I am taking the time to post today!

Here’s the update.  I’m down 33 pounds!  That’s only 7 pounds away from my goal!!  My first goal that is.  I have 1 whole month to lose those 7 pounds and that’s making it through Halloween…Lord help me!  I was telling my mom how unreal it felt to have lost 33 pounds.  In my head I knew I could never stay at the weight I was, but then it never seemed realistic for me to lose the weight.  Does that make sense?  60 pounds….did I really need to lose 60 pounds?  Could I lose 60 pounds?  I’ve never had to lose 60 pounds before…that thought just kept taunting me!  But here I am…Over half way there and I feel great.  And out of all honestly, it’s not been too bad.  Yes, I’ve wanted to cheat and yes, I’ve dreaded my workouts.  But it’s been so exhilarating pushing myself and seeing results.  If I was a druggie I would say weight loss is my high!! Lol! But I’m not…no worries.

I will express something that has been difficult for me.  It’s hard for me to take compliments.  And I know people are just being nice and noticing…and I want them to, but it’s so hard to say thank you!  And then say those numbers again…those taunting numbers when people ask.  It’s so difficult.  I did get the sweetest compliment from a very nice older man at the gym.  He said “young lady…I do believe you are losing weight!  Your face is getting skinny!”  That one I didn’t have a hard time saying thank you to.

What I have realized over the last several months is that it is possible.  If I can do this…if I can change my eating habits, if I can make exercising just a part of my day, I can get a high from losing weight….ANYONE can do it.  And that’s my drive right now….

i promise to blog tonight!

TONIGHT!  I'M GONNA UPDATE EVERYONE TONIGHT!

Oreos!

So tonight I went grocery shopping when I was hungry!  Bad, bad, bad idea!  Took everything I had to walk out of that store with a gallon of snickers ice cream and a pizza!  But I didn’t!  Ordered my Subway sandwich and had it eaten by the time I got to the end of Military Road. 

Let me talk about my weekend.  In my last blog I discussed how I never do well traveling, especially with my parents and especially at my grandparents.  Oh and the cookies!  Well….you’ll be happy to know I didn’t gain!  Didn’t lose but didn’t gain.  Huge accomplishment for me.  No I didn’t eat exactly as planned but I did watch my portion and filled out on lettuce.  The trick I used was using a smaller plate and not the dinner plate.  It was a little awkward though.  People stare when you do things differently.  Then it becomes topic of conversation how Jamie is losing weight and doing so well.  I like attention but not when it comes to my weight.  The last thing I want to talk to my relatives about is how much weight I gained and how much I have to lose.  Not that they judge, just not a topic I want to be the center of.  Another thing I did was track EVERYTHING that went in my mouth!  EVERTHING!!  Garlic bread and cheese cake are loaded with fat and calories BTW.  Haha.

My week is going great!  Loving my new exercises and sticking to my “diet” fantastically well!  Thank you Cheri for talking me out of eating those Oreo’s.

Travel

I’m never doing sit ups again!  Hurts to laugh, breath, bend, cough, or think!  Naaa I’m only playing.  I’ll do ‘em again just not with Jami Nalley.  Haha. 

I’ll be traveling this weekend to visit my family in Texas.  Traveling is really hard for me.  That jar of cookies is daunting!  Plus I’m with my dad, the Italian man.  We like to eat!  But I’m gonna prepare myself for this trip.  Only drinking water, taking my own snacks, and paying the extra $3 for an overpriced salad at any restaurant we eat at.  Probably won’t be able to do much of a workout, because of where I will be staying, but we’ll see?  Maybe I’ll shop instead!

It's Been a Minute

It’s been a minute since I’ve had a chance to blog.  School had started back, which is taking up a lot of my free time.  So let me talk about school.  IT’S STRESSFUL!  And my number one down fall is stress eating.  Sometimes I don’t even realize I’m doing it.  Its habit I suppose.  This semester I vow to be more aware of my eating habits.  I’ll let ya know how that goes….

I wanted to share something I did Saturday that helped my keep my fat and calories under control.  I started my day with a pretty decent workout.  Had egg whites (my new favorite) for breakfast, and a cereal bar for a snack.  Here came the challenge.  One of the classes I’m taking this semester meets three Friday’s and Saturday’s for 6 hours each day.  Terrible idea!!!  I was forced to eat out.  Ran by Wal-Mart and close by was Wendy’s.  Don’t get the jr. bacon cheeseburger, don’t get the jr. bacon cheeseburger…..  I chose the small chili and two side salads.  Weird, I know, but ya’ll should try it.  Chili on a salad kinda makes it seem like a taco salad!  Again Mexican food!  Low in calories and fat! 

Later that evening, I was having baby shower for my sister in law.  Cupcakes, candy, chips, torture.  Luckily I had the brilliant idea of ordering a meat and cheese tray.  Ate pretty decent, only a few tortilla chips, a sandwich with lots of veggies, and a cupcake.  Yea I said it….a cupcake!  I did an extra days workout to burn it off tho..

And guess what?  I’m at a new low!  Down 25 lbs!! That means 15 more to go for my first goal and 35 more till my ultimate goal.  I’m feeling more and more motivated

What is it about breakfast that is so easy?  Seems like most everyone I meet with and myself, for that matter, can eat the correct breakfast every day.  Even on the weekends.  What happens at lunch time that makes me what to falter?  Seems like the day starts going downhill from there.  Today I searched and searched at Kroger for something somewhat healthy to eat for lunch.  Finally I settled on chicken tortilla soup.  Premade, unfortunately, which has more sodium than I’d like,  but low in calories and fat.  Then I came across that dang salsa!  So I grabbed the salsa and marched down to the chip section.   Scoops or lays? Scoops or lays?  Lays is was!  Fat free lays that is!  Man that salsa was GOOD!

Dinner was a catastrophe.  I was making this spaghetti bake my husband loves.  Looked in the pantry for the sauce….no sauce!  Luckily I have a fantastic neighbor that had some.  Jumped in my car, gone for maybe 3 minutes, get back, and my golden retriever had eaten half of the pasta! I WAS LIVID!  My sweet, sweet momma came the rescue again and brought me more pasta.  By that time I didn’t even want look at the pasta.  The oven was already on so I decided to cut up the fresh eggplant Donna gave me, bread it and bake it in the oven for some make-shift parmesan.  It turned out really good!  Paired with a cucumber salad and a glass of un-sweet, decaf tea….I was completely satisfied!  Turned out to be a pretty good day!

So so day...

Today was one of those days where my determination was really tested.  I realize that I’m gonna have those day, I just don’t like them.  Kim! We have to stop going to lunch.  Although I had the lunch fajita’s it was still more than I wanted to eat.  And….ya’ll ready? For dinner, I had a cupcake!  No frosting though!  I was in a funky mood, my kid is being stubborn, Ryan was late getting home, and blah blah blah…excuses excuses.  It happens.  Tomorrow is a new day.  I’ll do better.

My Goals

OMG!  All I’ve wanted to do today is eat!  Luckily I work at a gym and food isn’t that convenient.  Otherwise I would have eaten alllll day!  No lie.  When I got home from work I ate a whole bag of steamer veggies.  It was either that or ice cream.  I think I chose the better choice.

I think I have forgotten to blog about my goals.  My first and foremost goal is to have lost all my baby weight by the time my son turns 1, which is 40 pounds.  So far I’m down 22 of that 40.  That means I have 18 pounds to lose in 3 months.  Before my pregnancy 18 pounds wouldn’t have been too difficult to lose.  Well not that difficult anyway.  But now….since having my son, I swear I have NO metabolism! I mean I can look at a skittle and gain a pound!!  It’s very frustrating.  But I gotta to what I gotta do! My next goal is to lose an additional 30 pounds.  I’m not putting too much of a time restraint on that goal but next summer would be nice.  I try not to focus too much on the scales.  Just for the simple fact that I wouldn’t care if I weighed 300lbs and was a size 8.  My saying is “you can see inches, you can’t see pounds.”  So here’s the big goal!!  I want to run the half marathon in March.  That’s 13.1 miles if anyone is wondering.  Lots of goals!!  But I’m excited! 

Oh the Weekend....

Friday when I posted I was a little down.  Weekends always seem to be the time I blow my “diet.”  Not this weekend!  I tried to keep myself busy and anytime I went searching for food I read my blog.  Or swept!  I did a lot of sweeping.  Oh and napping!  My sweet boy hasn’t been feeling all that great lately.  He took THREE naps Saturday.  All over an hour long.  Trust when I say that not normal.  We’re lucky to get an hour of sleep till bedtime.

 Sunday rolls around…this is where it gets tricky!  Before church we needed to run into to Wal-Mart to get something for Korb.  And wouldn’t ya know…the entire center aisle is everything Mexican.  Refried bean, tortillas, avocados, jalapenos, etc…. there was the first craving.  Then after church, my dad invited us to eat.  And where do they pick?  That’s right Mexican!  I do not do well with a basket of chips in front of my face!  We went anyway….  Typically, in the past, when going to this restaurant I order the same thing.  But I decided to venture out.  Chile relleno it was.  I thought since I was ordering off the vegetarian menu it can’t be too bad.  Ha! Think again.  A Chile relleno is a chesses stuffed pepper (unseeded might I add), breaded, fried and another layer of cheese!  Not the best decision.  Thank goodness it was unseeded or I might have eaten it.  Instead I ate the beans, rice and guacamole taco.  Too many crabs I know…but at that point it was too late.  Don’t worry…I kicked my own but at the gym later that day.

The rest of the night went fine.  Wasn’t too hungry after all those cards for lunch but I ate anyway. 

Today was a good day.  My workout went great!  I feel so much better when I get up before work and head to the gym.  My day runs smoother.  And I haven’t thought of a bazillion excuses as to why I should just go home instead of working out after work.  Stepped on the scale when I got to work…. And I broke through my plateau!  I lost over the weekend!!  Felt so good to not be discouraged on a Monday.  Hoping that means the rest of the week is gonna be just as good…..

Blogging early today...

So this is about the time I sabotage myself.  I’m sitting at home, baby is asleep, chores are done, and no homework that has to be dome anytime soon.  Normally, I’d start by going to the fridge, checking it out, seeing if there is anything I can grab to munch on.  I’d have full intentions to grab some veggies.  And I probably would.  But once the veggies are gone….I’d probably go through the pantry.  Grab a handful of cereal, rice cakes, something.  I’d convince myself that these are “healthy” snacks and it won’t hurt.  And Lord knows I’m not entering in a handful of cereal on my food tracker!  Therefore, I really didn’t eat it right?  Well it’s time to be real with myself and you guys.  How can I expect to lose weight consistently if I’m not true to myself and the program?  So no more!  This is the start to changing that terrible, terrible habit!  I either eat it and track it or don’t eat it at all.  How though?  How am I going to change this habit?  I’m not sure if I have a solution….

Eating Out

Started my morning out with Bob Harper aka Lucifer.  Anyone ever done kettle bell training?  It’s a fabulous workout.  One of my workout goals is to do something 6 days a week.  So far I’ve been doing a pretty good job sticking to that goal.  Well except this past week while I was attending a conference in Ohio.  During my pregnancy I did nothing!  Absolutely nothing!  I regret that but there is obviously nothing I can do about it now.  But since being back at work I can honestly say I’ve fallen in love with exercise.  I’ve found myself again.  And I contribute A LOT of that to my workouts. 

I wanted to tell ya’ll something that has always been a challenge for me.  EATING OUT!  I have a serious weakness when it comes to making healthy choices at restaurants.  And I don’t even know why.  I feel just as satisfied when I make a healthy choice versus an unhealthy choice.  Maybe habit?  Who knows?  But today…..I made a healthy choice!  I had the grilled chicken sandwich on a whole wheat bun and steamed broccoli instead of fries.  I think what works for me is to look at the nutritional information of all the terrible things I use to put in my body.  Some of the things on that menu have over 100 grams of fat!  Once I choose something that is reasonable, I shut the menu and eat a lemon!  Ya'll should try it! I was proud of myself!

Anyway, received lots of compliments today!  It’s very exciting when other people notice what I know I’ve been working so hard to achieve.  Today was a pretty decent day.

Fruit Loops for breakfast!

As the title states, I had Fruit Loops for breakfast.  Yea there were other options but none of them sounded good.  Oatmeal is too warm, the thought of an egg made me wanna gag, and I was too lazy to pull the toaster out to toast some waffles.  So Fruit Loops it was.  I did measure out the correct serving size though of cereal and milk.  Fat free milk might I add.  Does anyone know what 1 cup of Fruit Loops looks like?  It looks like a tease!  After pouring the cereal and milk I sat down to eat.  It took me maybe 2 whole minutes to eat my breakfast!!!  Kinda made me sad.  Needless to say I was starving by 10 am.  I tried all the tricks, chewing gum, sucking on hard candy, and drinking water.  I WAS HUNGRY!  So I broke down and ate a protein bar.  Wasn’t a bad choice I suppose, but still didn’t want to add that to my journal. 

So on to lunch.  I had some errands to run on my lunch break so I grabbed a chicken salad from Dinner’s Ready.  (Which by the way ya’ll has great salads!)  Ate my rabbit food and drank the rest of my required water.  (I know ya’ll are jealous)  And then after work I stayed for my workout.  Woohoo go me!

Dinner was fabulous!  PASTA!  But again, does anyone know what a cup of food looks like?  It’s not much!  I wanted to cuss at that cup of pasta.  But I was a good girl and only had that one small cup. On a good note, I was really satisfied when I was done eating.  Really made me reflect on the amount of food I ate as a kid.  When we had spaghetti, the pasta filled the entire plate, it was covered in sauce, and came with a side of garlic bread!  No wonder I’m fat!!

I’m really starting to see and feel a difference from all my hard work.  Makes me even more motivated.  Let’s see if this motivation last through the weekend…….

does there always have to be a title?

Cant complain too much about today.  Other than the fact that I wore inappropriate shoes to work the desk in at work, it was all in all a good day.  Had a good workout this morning with my workout buddy (she's the best!)  Although my butt checks are killing me already and its not even been 24 hrs! The things we do to keep our butts where they are suppose to be?!?!  Dang lunges!  Breakfast was yummy.  One whole egg and an egg white.  Cant go wrong with that.  Lunch, again, didn't go as planned but still made a good choice.  Dinner was grilled chicken, steamed carrots and rice.  I love that combo! 

So when does sharing food with your child get easier? Am I just that selfish?  All I was thinking when I was handing Korb my carrot was "Dang kid, I only get 1 cup of those and here I am sharing with you.  And you don't even eat solid food!"  Needless to say, the dogs ended up eating my carrots.  Oh here's another thing about motherhood..... I never knew I could eat so fast!!  Seems like I'm cramming my food in my mouth in the little amount of time he is content.  Am I the only mom that feels that way?  I sure hope not!

blog instead of eat.....

So first things first..... I LOVE TO EAT!  I enjoy everything about eating.  The way it makes me feel, the taste, everything!  I'm hoping that by sharing with ya'll the up and downs of my weightloss journey, I will somehow find motivation to stick to this.  Kinda sounds like an oxymoron coming out of my mouth being that motivating people is what I do for a living, but I need it just like everyone else.  I'm human!  Far from perfect! 
After a terible, terrible weekend of junk food and no exercise, today was my "startover" day.  Breakfast went as planned, lunch didnt quit goes as planned but I still made a good choice, and dinner was good. Even made a healthy choice for a snack!  So food went well.  I even got my exercise in today, even though my workout partner (who is great!) couldn't be there with me.  Ran/walked for 28 mins and did biking for 10 mins.  I was dripping with sweat!  Felt fantastic! 
Here's my weakness....SNACKING.  I'm not hungry, no cravings, just want to eat.  Why is this??  Why is it I blow a good day worth of healthy eating and an awesome exercise with mindless eating?  It's frustrating.  (I didn't today, hints the title, but this happens to me frequently).  And it's not even that I'm choosing bad snacks, I just know my weight loss would be better if I could just stop!  ugh!  note: my skinny husband is eating a mixing bowl full of fruit loops and whole milk.  Really??  Oh to be skinny!

I'm a little nervous.....

So my friend and I were talking over the weekend about blogging.  She said she liked to start blogging about her personal training.  I got to thinking (smoke out of the ears and everything) I want to blog about my weightloss journey. Although there are a bazillion blogs on this very topic already, I want to show my members that this can be done raising a family, going to school, and working.  So who are my members???  I work for a weight loss company called Total Solutions.  I work one-on-one with individuals helping them reach their weightloss goals.  I love my members (I hope they love me too).  They are all amazing! But I want to be real.  Losing weight sucks!  It's highly over-rated and it's HARD!  But I am determined.  I'm gonna lose this weight.  Not only for myself, but for my members.  They are an inspiration to me and I owe this to them.